BBM for Android app shown in demo video

BlackBerry(s bbry) device sales may be at standstill, but plenty of people still use BlackBerry Messenger (or BBM, as it’s better known). With the company currently in free fall, BlackBerry is trying to increase the audience for BBM by making it available to Android(s goog) and iOS(s aapl) users. There’s already a signup page for the new app available on BlackBerry’s site, but if you want to get a sneak peak at the action, a beta tester has uploaded a demo video of BBM for Android to BlackBerryOS.

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As you can see, running on an HTC First, the BBM app for Android looks a lot like the app for BlackBerry. So if you’re already familiar with how it works you should be able to pick it up in no time. And let’s face it, BBM is really just a glorified text messaging program, so it isn’t all that advanced. Even new users should pick up on how to use it pretty quickly.

Reports last week suggested that BlackBerry could spin its services off as a subsidiary. After all, with flailing device sales, services like BBM account for the bulk of BlackBerry’s current profits. But with fewer people buying new BlackBerry phones, it is possible that the demand for BlackBerry services will decrease accordingly unless it expands them to other devices.

BlackBerry has said the BBM app will launch for Android and iOS before the end of summer. If it keeps to this promise we should be seeing the official apps within the next few weeks.